Romantic coffee ads leave a bitter taste for lonely singletons

Romance is brewing: The Gold Blend ads featured Tony Head and Sharon Maughan falling in love – all over a cup of coffee (Picture: Advert Archives)

They were well-known adverts, where a twinkle-eyed couple fell in love thanks to their mutual passion for Gold Blend.

But if you’re single, those romantic storylines may not leave you eager to run to the shop for Nescafé, it seems.

Adverts featuring lovebirds backfire on people who are still searching for that special someone, psychologists say.

After seeing a couple share coffee or head on a trip in a new car, singletons are unlikely to buy the product because they feel they don’t deserve it – opting for a cheaper brand instead.

The so-called ‘Gold Blend Effect’ is particularly bad in the holiday season, where many adverts show happy couples smooching on a sandy, white beach, research by the University of Southern California showed.

Prof Lisa Cavanaugh said: ‘By reminding customers of relationships they don’t have, marketers may not be simply mis-targeting but self-handicapping as well.

Reminders of relationships often cause people to restrict indulgence and feel undeserving. But singletons need to get love from marketers, too.’

Experts carried out seven experiments around Valentine’s Day. They asked their volunteers – including singles and people in a relationship – to look at cards showing romantic couples.

They were then sent out to buy cosmetics and could choose a product that was cheap, mid-range or expensive.

Singletons shown the happy couple card chose cheaper products than those who were in a happy relationship already.

Marketers should stop emailing singletons with adverts featuring couples believing it is aspirational, she said.